Health in West Bengal

Hospital and doctor provision by district, mortality and immunization indicators, disease burden, and who pays for care in West Bengal.

On the headline numbers, West Bengal's health system is working: IMR is below the national average, MMR has already crossed the 2030 SDG target, and immunization coverage is above 85% on every major antigen. Below those topline wins lies a harder story — anaemia in women remains stubbornly high, and hospital beds concentrate sharply in Kolkata. The system succeeds at preventing death; it's catching up on quality.

Data: latest 2021-22· 8 sources· NFHS-5 · NHA 2021-22 · SRS 2021 · NHSRC · NCVBDCMethodology →

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Key figures & data tables

West Bengal’s infant mortality rate is 22 per 1,000 live births, below the all-India figure, and the maternal mortality ratio is 109 per 100,000 live births — already past the 2030 SDG target of 70. Institutional delivery reaches 92.3% of births and full child immunization stands at 75.8% (NFHS-5, 2019-21).

The reporting districts account for 84,500 government hospital beds and 15,970 government-sector doctors. Provision is heavily concentrated: Kolkata alone holds 33% of all beds, with North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas next.

The unfinished business is nutrition and anaemia. 62.4% of women and 69% of children in West Bengal are anaemic, and 34.4% of under-fives are stunted (India: 35.5%). Out-of-pocket spending is still 58.3% of total health expenditure in West Bengal (2021-22) versus 39.4% for India — among the highest out-of-pocket shares of any large Indian state.

The rows behind the charts above — 15 tables

›Government health infrastructure by district, West Bengal(17 rows)

Hospitals, PHCs, CHCs, beds and doctors. Source: National Health Mission — West Bengal.

Government health infrastructure by district, West Bengal
District	Hospitals	PHCs	CHCs	Beds	Doctors
Kolkata	48	0	0	28,000	5,200
North 24 Parganas	22	78	21	8,500	1,800
South 24 Parganas	18	85	19	6,200	1,200
Howrah	15	45	12	5,100	1,100
Hooghly	12	62	15	4,800	950
Barddhaman (Purba)	14	55	14	4,200	880
Murshidabad	11	72	16	4,100	680
Medinipur (Paschim)	9	80	18	3,900	620
Nadia	10	58	13	3,600	720
Medinipur (Purba)	8	65	14	3,200	550
Jalpaiguri	8	48	12	2,400	420
Malda	7	42	10	2,100	380
Darjeeling	6	38	9	1,800	350
Bankura	6	48	11	1,800	300
Birbhum	5	40	10	1,700	290
Purulia	5	42	10	1,600	250
Cooch Behar	5	38	9	1,500	280

›West Bengal infant mortality rate (IMR) trend vs India(4 rows)

Deaths of infants under 1 year per 1,000 live births. Source: SRS / NFHS.

West Bengal infant mortality rate (IMR) trend vs India
Year	West Bengal	India
2005-06	48	57
2010-11	36	44
2015-16	27	34
2019-21	22	28

›West Bengal maternal mortality ratio (MMR) trend vs India(6 rows)

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Source: SRS Special Bulletin on MMR.

West Bengal maternal mortality ratio (MMR) trend vs India
Year	West Bengal	India
2004-06	141	254
2007-09	145	212
2011-13	113	167
2014-16	101	130
2016-18	98	113
2018-20	109	97

›Child immunization coverage in West Bengal vs India, by antigen(6 rows)

Percentage of children 12-23 months vaccinated. Source: NFHS-5 (2019-21).

Child immunization coverage in West Bengal vs India, by antigen
Antigen	West Bengal (%)	India (%)
B C G	98.7	97.8
D P T3	83.2	78.1
Polio3	83.5	78.5
Measles	85.1	81.9
Full Immunization	75.8	76.4
Vitamin A	63.2	62.1

›NFHS-5 nutrition indicators, West Bengal vs India(6 rows)

Source: National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), IIPS.

NFHS-5 nutrition indicators, West Bengal vs India
Indicator	West Bengal (%)	India (%)
Children Stunted	34.4	35.5
Children Wasted	20.3	19.3
Children Underweight	32.2	32.1
Children Overweight	3	3.4
Women B M I Below18.5	21.3	18.7
Men B M I Below18.5	20.2	16.2

›NFHS-5 fertility and marriage indicators, West Bengal(3 rows)

Source: National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), IIPS.

NFHS-5 fertility and marriage indicators, West Bengal
Indicator	Value
Total Fertility Rate	1.6
Women Married Before18	41.6
Teenage Pregnancy	16.4

›Dengue cases and deaths in West Bengal, by year(3 rows)

Source: National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).

Dengue cases and deaths in West Bengal, by year
Year	Cases	Deaths
2022	67,271	30
2023	30,683	4
2024	31,100	30

›Malaria cases and deaths in West Bengal, by year(2 rows)

Source: National Center for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).

Malaria cases and deaths in West Bengal, by year
Year	Cases	Deaths
2023	26,493	2
2022	17,285	1

›Public health facilities in West Bengal by tier, with shortfall(9 rows)

NHSRC Health Dossier — West Bengal (2021) (RHS 2019-20 / NHP 2020 (tabulated in NHSRC Health Dossier 2021, published Jan 2022)).

Public health facilities in West Bengal by tier, with shortfall
Facility tier	Level	Operational	Required	Shortfall (%)
Sub-Centre	Peripheral	10,357	13,225	21.69
Primary Health Centre	Primary	913	2,176	58.04
Community Health Centre	Primary	348	544	36.03
Urban PHC	Primary	456	697	34.58
Sub-Divisional Hospital	Secondary	60	—	—
District Hospital	Secondary	18	—	—
Medical College (Govt)	Tertiary	19	—	—
Medical College (Private)	Tertiary	6	—	—
AB-HWC functional	Primary	5,260	9,951	—

›Disease burden by category — share of DALYs, West Bengal vs India(3 rows)

India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative (ICMR + PHFI + IHME), via NHSRC Health Dossier 2021 (GBD 2019 (categories) + GBD 2021 (stroke trend)).

Disease burden by category — share of DALYs, West Bengal vs India
Category	West Bengal (% DALYs)	India (% DALYs)
Non-communicable diseases	66.02	61.43
Communicable / maternal / neonatal	22.59	27.46
Injuries	11.39	11.11

›Leading causes of death and disability in West Bengal(6 rows)

India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative (ICMR + PHFI + IHME), via NHSRC Health Dossier 2021 (GBD 2019 (categories) + GBD 2021 (stroke trend)).

Leading causes of death and disability in West Bengal
Rank	Cause	Category
1	Ischaemic heart disease	NCD
2	Intracerebral haemorrhage (stroke)	NCD
3	COPD	NCD
4	Diarrhoeal diseases	Communicable
5	Lower respiratory infections	Communicable
6	Drug-susceptible TB	Communicable

›Health service utilisation, West Bengal vs India(3 rows)

NHSRC Health Dossier — West Bengal (2021) (HMIS 2019-20 and NSS 75th round 2017-18).

Health service utilisation, West Bengal vs India
Indicator	West Bengal	India	Unit
OPD visits per 1,000 population	1,359.03	1,337.1	events
IPD admissions per 1,000 population	70	62.6	events
Major surgeries per 10,000 population	37.05	36.4	events

›Share of care sought at public facilities, West Bengal vs India(4 rows)

Source: NSS 75th Round household health survey.

Share of care sought at public facilities, West Bengal vs India
Type of care	West Bengal (%)	India (%)
OPD rural (public share)	33	33
OPD urban (public share)	22	26
IPD rural (public share)	74	46
IPD urban (public share)	59	35

›Out-of-pocket health expenditure share, West Bengal vs India(2 rows)

Source: National Health Accounts estimates for India, NHSRC.

Out-of-pocket health expenditure share, West Bengal vs India
Year	West Bengal (%)	India (%)
2017-18	69.8	48.8
2021-22	58.3	39.4

›Neonatal and post-neonatal mortality, West Bengal vs India(5 rows)

Registrar General of India — SRS Statistical Report 2021 (released 2025) (2021). Rates per 1,000 live births.

Neonatal and post-neonatal mortality, West Bengal vs India
Measure	WB total	WB rural	WB urban	India total
IMR	17	17	16	27
NNMR	13	14	12	19
EARLY NNMR	10	10	9	14
LATE NNMR	3	4	3	5
POST NNMR	4	3	4	8